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Quinnipiac Upgrades Network Across 3 Campuses

By Dian Schaffhauser

02/19/13

Quinnipiac University is upgrading its network, both wired and wireless, in an effort to accommodate more users and devices. Using gear from Aruba Networks, the upgrade will encompass the university's new medical school, which will be enrolling its first class in fall 2013. The three-campus institution based in Hamden, CT has about 8,400 students.

Quinnipiac is replacing 250 legacy Cisco access switches with Aruba S3500 Mobility Access Switches to support an increase in users, devices, and applications. The new switches will allow network administrators to identify users on the wired network along with their roles, devices, and applications.

The new network also includes a 3200 Series Mobility Controller, about 2,000 AP-125 and AP-135 access points, and the Aruba AirWave network management system. AirWave provides mobile device management features that allow IT to identify who is on the network, where they're accessing it from, which mobile devices they're using, and how much bandwidth they're consuming. The deployment covers all of Quinnipiac's academic buildings and residence halls and is designed to allow an average of 20,000 devices to connect to the network each day.

"Today's mobile wireless devices and applications allow our students to access the information and tools they need to master the subjects they are studying more quickly and conveniently," said Brian Kelly, information security officer for the university. "Aruba delivers the security, reliability, and robustness that these devices and applications require. It also provides visibility into all aspects of our network, allowing our small staff of six IT professionals to more efficiently and easily manage the network. We spend less time troubleshooting and more time researching and acquiring the mobile devices and applications that enhance our students' educational experience."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a writer who covers technology and business for a number of publications. Contact her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.